Means for making shoes and slippers



Patented May 12, 1942 UNITED STATES i PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR MAKING SHOES AND SLIPPERS Dominick J. Calderazzo, New York, N. Y.

Application October 3, 1938, Serial No. 233,009

3 Claims.

My invention relates to footwear. More particularly, my invention relates to improvements in the making of non-turned slippers and shoes.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a highly improved means for constructing slippers or shoes of the character described in which a novel shank reinforcement member is attached to the insole, and incorporated in the assembled shoe.

Another object of my invention is to provide a highly improved means for constructing slippers or shoes of the character described which shall be practical and simple in operation, which shall comprise relatively few and simple parts, which shall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and which, at the same time, shall constitute an improvement in the art.

Certain features described but not claimed in this application are described and claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 177,684, filed December 2, 1937.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indicated in-the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of this invention,

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal side view of a single rounded sole blank.

Figs. 2 and 3 are top plan views of an insole and outsole respectively, formed by splitting 'the' sole blank illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the insole illustrating a further step in the construction thereof.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional View of a shoe assembled in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 1-7 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of a modified form of my invention which is explanatory of the mounting of the resilient support for the metallic strip employed in my invention.

No. 177,684, filed December 2, 1937. As described in my said co-pending application, the sole 20 is split at a split line 2!, parallel to the flesh and grain sides thereof, to form a relatively thin insole 22, while the remaining relatively thicker portion, is adapted to serve as an outsole 23. The insole 22 is severed from the sole 20 by any suitable method well known to those skilled in the art and in such manner whereby to provide an area 24 disposed at the ball of the outsole 23 and which is slightly raised above the top surface thereof. Simultaneous with the said severing operation, there is provided a cut-out area 25 in the ball of the insole corresponding to the raised area 24 of the outsole 23. It is thus seen that by the above described splitting operation, the insole 22 and the outsole 23 are complementary and will interfit, with the raised portion 24 received in the opening 25 when the shoe is assembled. As is well known in the art, the insole 22 may be marginally cut to conform to the necessary relationship between the sizes of the insole 22 and the outsole 23.

Underlying the heel portion 22a and shank portion 22b of the insole 22, as clearly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing, there is provided a stiffening or shaping member 26 constructed of paper board fibre or similar suitable material and con-- forming generally to the contour of the said heel and shank portions with the exception of a protuberance 21, so disposed as to extend outwardly from one side of the shank portion 22b. The function and purpose of the protuberance 21 is to provide an arch reinforcement for the assembled shoe as will soon become apparent.

Above the member 26 is disposed a strip 23 of steel or other suitable metallic material which has been pre-shaped to conform to the curvature of the arch of the foot. One end 28a of the strip 28 is adapted to rest upon a block 29 of resilient material such as sponge rubber or the like and which may be fixed to the insole 22 in any suitable manner such as, for example, by cementing. The strip 28 is held in place by the reinforcing member 26 which has also been shaped to conform to the shape of the strip 28 and which is permanently attached to the insole 22 by cementing or by other suitable fastening means. The

member 26 may be provided with a notched portion 30 defining two extensions 26a and 2% which are designed to straddle a portion of the strip 28 adjacent the end 28a thereof in order to permit a certain amount of resilient free movement of the shank portion 22b of the insole 7 22, If desired, the member 26 maybe skived adjacent the periphery thereof, as shown at 260.

If desired, the resilient block 29 may be mounted in a corresponding aperture in the shank portion 22b of the insole 22, as shown and described in my said co-pending application, Serial No. 177,684. In this modified form of my invention, illustrated in Fig. 8, a hole 40 is provided in the shank portion 22b. Said hole may be skived, as illustrated, around the edges thereof and is adapted to receive therein a resilient block 4| shaped to conform to the hole 40, said block 4! being similar in function and eifect to the block 29 but having the advantage of greater resilience due to the hole 40. The hole 40 may be provided by punching or stamping through the insole 2| or by being simultaneously formed with and in the same manner as the opening 24; that is, during the splitting operation of the sole, hereinbefore described.

In assembling the shoe, the inturned edges 32 of the upper U are fastened to the insole 22 in any customary manner suchas, for example, by the use of nails 33 (see Fig. 5) or, if desired, cement may be employed and applied in the wellknown manner. The outsole 23 is then attached to the inturned edges 32 of the upper U, in any manner customary in the art, such as by cementing. It is noted that the inturned edges of the upper U are fastened between the severed insole 22 and the outsole 23. The heel H is then attached by such means as the nails 34, in the manher well known in the art, and the usual sock lining 35 may then be positioned overlying the top surface of the insole 2|.

It is noted in Fig. 7 that the protuberance 21 of the reinforcing member 26 is so designed that when the shoe has been assembled, the said protuberance 21 will extend upwardly along one wall of the shank portion of the shoe to act as an arch reinforcement therefor.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made 5* of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. g 7

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

.1. A shoe or slipper insole that has been severed from a sole blank, comprising a fore portion, a heel portion and an interconnecting shankportion having an opening therein, said shank portion having substantially straight edges, a stiffening member underlying said heel and shank portions and conforming generally to the peripheral contours thereof with the exception of a protuberance extending from one side thereof beyond one of said straight edges of said shank portion to serve as an arch reinforcement for the assembled shoe, a strip of metallic material interposed between said insole and said stiffening member and a resilient member interposed between said insole and said metallic strip and disposed in said shank opening, said strip being pre-shaped to conform to the curvature of the arch of the foot, said stiffening member and said insole portion adjacent said strip being shaped to conform to the shape of said strip, and means for attaching said stiifeningmember to said insole.

2. A shoe or slipper insole that has been severed from a sole blank, comprising a fore portion, a heel portion and an interconnecting shank portion, said shank portion having substantially straight; edges, a stiffening member underlying said heel and shank portions and conforming generally to the peripheral contours thereof with the exception of a protuberance extending from. one side thereof beyond one of said straight edges of said shank portion to serve as an arch reinforcement for the assembled shoe, a strip of metallicmaterial interposed between said insole and said stiffening member, said strip being preshaped to conform to the curvature of the arch of the foot, said stiffening member and said insole portion adjacent said strip being shaped to conform to the shape of said strip, means for attaching said stiffening member to said insole, an opening in the said shank portion and a block of resilient material in said shank opening and interposed between the innermost end of said strip and said insole, the bottom surface of said stiffening member being skived adjacent the periphery thereof or a better fitting when attaching a heel of said shoe.

3; As an article of manufacture, an insole for a shoe or slipper comprising a fore portion, a heel portion and an interconnecting shank portion, said fore portion, being provided with a through openingin the ball of said insole to render the same morefiexible than the said heel and shank portions, a stiffening member underlying said heel and shank portions, said stiffening member having a protuberance extending from one side thereof to serve as an arch support for the foot, and a relatively narrow preshaped metallic strip interposed between said insole and said stiffening member, said stiffening member being attached to said insole to hold said metallic strip captive therebetween, an opening in'the metatarsal portion of said insole, and a resilient member mounted on said insole and received in said metatarsal opening, said metallic strip being so disposed as to have one end thereof resting upon said resilient member.

DOMINICK J. CALDERAZZO. 

